Well, back to reality and back to our daily shuffle. More recaps of AMA 2015 will be forthcoming.
Suffice it to say, I had the time of my life – hearing tons of great music, seeing and meeting people, and sharing some once in a lifetime moments.
It is Monday and that means, I am back to work and we have a nifty shuffle to kick off the post-AMA hangover week…
“Yuma” by Justin Townes Earle
We start of this week with the devastating title track from JTE’s debut EP (2007).
“Missing” by Manilow
I didn’t realize we still have some Manilow in the shuffle. This is some badass UK punk rock.
“Fighter” by Tiffany Huggins Grant
Another great song from Tiffany’s Jonquil Child album – one of my favorites of the year.
“Don’t Bang the Drum” by The Waterboys
A swelling, expansive track from This is the Sea.
“Railroad Bill” by Etta Baker
Some Piedmont Blues via The Music Maker Relief Foundation. If I am not mistaken, Taj Mahal plays on this song.
“I’m Poor” by Supersuckers
My Americana experience this year began with a fund raiser for Supersucker Eddie Spaghetti at The Basement East – last Tuesday. Today, we have a track from a compilation called Their Sympathetic Majesty’s Request.
“When Tomorrow Never Comes” by Pony Boy
We have another track from Pony Boy’s brand new record, Blue Gold.
“Slow Motion” (Sylvan Esso Remix) by PHOX
We close out the day with a remix of a song from the Self-Titled album by the indie band based out of Wisconsin.
Well… I’m back. After feeling less than 100% all week, the percentages dropped dramatically Wednesday night into Thursday… but I’m back to feeling less than 100%. Actually, (knock on wood), I am feeling pretty darn close to 100%.
So it’s time for our weekending shuffle and I think we have a good one…
“I’m Not Afraid (Doesn’t Matter To Me)” by Beat Rodeo
We are almost through the Beat Rodeo album, Home in the Heart of the Beat, but we still have a few more. A tasty bit of mid/late 80s power pop with a bit of twang.
“My Baby Drives” by Justin Townes Earle
From the album Single Mothers. The version I heard is from the World Café sessions playlist that I posted about earlier this week.
“Western Skies” by Hot Rize
Legendary Bluegrass band, Hot Rize, with a song from When I’m Free which was released last September and which was the band’s first new album in over 24 years. Music to move the band into the 21st Century while staying deeply rooted in the traditions from which they arose.
“Easy Way Out” by Other Lives
A song from the latest album (Rituals was released May 4) by this alternative band from Oklahoma.
“2 Pigs in a Blanket/She’s My Little Biscuit Eater” by Southern Culture on the Skids
From Bubbapalooza Vol. 1 – a compilation that was released in 2006. SCOTS at their rowdy, randy, and rocking best.
“All She Can Say” by American Scarecrows
An absolutely awesome song from the album Yesteryear. American Scarecrows are opening tonight for Soul Asylum and Meat Puppets at First Avenue in their hometown of Minneapolis!
“Rules of Engagement” by The Poorhouse Says
The Poorhouse Says are a band from St. Louis. Their latest album, as patterns go, will be released later this month. The album release show is scheduled for June 27 at Focal Point in Maplewood, MO. My first listen, and I like what I’m hearing.
“Forbidden Places” by Meat Puppets
Maybe a song that Meat Puppets will perform tonight in Minneapolis? Maybe? The title track and our final from the band’s classic 1992 album.
Traversed snow and ice and cold to witness the birth of a new East Nashville musical happening at the Mad Donna’s Loft… a super-serious, super-cool songwriting thing (the name is still being bandied about), but who needs a name when you have Joe Fletcher, Brian Wright, and Darrin Bradbury playing their awesome songs to a small but dedicated audience of super-serious music fans (including some other great musicians). Here’s to many more of these happenings and much better weather for them. Hats off to the awesome Terry Rickards for making this thing happen…
Since I traversed the snow last night, I kind of had to do it this morning… guilty conscience if I said I couldn’t make it to work… but I had an awesome sound track for this slippery and frigid journey…
“Back on the Wagon” by Matt Prater
Another excellent song from Matt Prater’s latest album Tables and Chairs recorded in Mussel Shoals, Alabama.
“Made to be Broken” by Soul Asylum
The title track from Soul Asylum’s second album released in 1986 one of three releases for the band in that year…
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A brief instrumental partial title track from Scattered Moments of Connection. In lieu of this song, I included a video of the epic The Great Jester. Thirty seconds for like eleven minutes seemed like a fair trade off.
“Wish I Was in Heaven Sitting Down” by Bark
Tim and Susan Lee could have named their side project Tim Lee 2, but they went with Bark. This is from the debut Bark EP which is having it’s release celebrated (along with the new TL3 album 33 1/3 and the new album by Kevin Abernathy) with a triple release show at Scruffy City Hall in Knoxville this very night. This song is an R.L. Burnside cover.
“Revolution On the Rocks” by Gumball
A bit of 90s alternative rock from NYC, two of the members of Gumball were previously (and briefly) part of Dinosaur Jr. This was the lead track on the band’s 1994 third and final studio album called Revolution on Ice.
“Brand New Cadillac” by The Clash
From London Calling. This was a cover of a 1950s British Rock and Roll song by Vince Taylor.
“Crazy American” by Syd Straw
From Syd Straw’s 1989 solo debut, Surprise. Surprise is one of my favorite albums of all time.
“Train in Vain” by The Clash
Originally a hidden bonus track on London Calling (subtitled Stand By Me in the US because we Yanks were too dumb to handle a song whose name wasn’t the most repeated phrase). Also not called “Stand by Me” because everyone is too dumb to figure out it is not the Ben E. King song. Man I love this song!
“This…” by fIREHOSE
A mellow side of Watt, Hurley, and Crawford… from Ragin’ Full On.
“Blue Sky Mine” by Midnight Oil
The “sort of” title track to the 1990 album Blue Sky Mining.
“The Eye” by Brandi Carlile
An absolutely gorgeous song from Brandi Carlile’s album The Firewatcher’s Daughter which was released this past Tuesday.
“The Bedlam Express” by The Lucky Jukebox Brigade
An awesome rave-up and one of my favorite songs on Familiar Fevers. The source of today’s Shuffle subtitle.
“White Gardenias” by Justin Townes Earle
Finally, we close out the shuffle with a song from the 2014 album Single Mothers which was the predecessor to Justin Townes Earle’s latest album Absent Fathers.
So another week of Ear to the Ground Shuffles comes to a close. I am a bit short on time so I thought I would try something… a 3 Words post. I will attempt to comment on each song using just three words. This may be more time consuming than writing a long post, but here goes nothing…
Have a great weekend!
“The First Heartbreak” by Matthew Ryan from Boxers
Their all bad…
“Beat Hotel” by The Folk Factory from The Folk Factory
Danish folk fun
“Live My Life” by Stacy Mitchhart from Live My Life
Red hot Blues
“Worried About the Weather” by Justin Townes Earle from NoiseTrade Eastside Manor Session/Single Mothers
Wish I’d gone
“Grasping at Straws” by Sidestreet Reny from Tonal Tonics and Musical Elixers
Unique Blues Music
“Grace on The 4th” by Minton Sparks from Middlin’ Sisters
Life ’round here
“Phase of the Moon” by Dan Coyle from Perfect Word, Perfect Beat
Brilliant moon song
“Deep Breath” by Hammer Hawk from The Entrée (a Built4BBQ Sampler)
Post-Hamburger Troy Rock
“Good Work (If You Can Get It)” by Ike Reilly from Hard Luck Stories
I failed to post a shuffle yesterday – I listened to a shuffle and it was a good one, but time didn’t allow me to post – so the songs go back into the hopper and will come out in some other interesting combination.
Truth be told – life is unpredictable and pretty darn right amazing when you stop to pay attention to the seemingly random occurrences which are going on around you every day. Truth be told – I would never have placed my self voluntarily in the situation in which I currently find myself, but since I’m here… I have to say…. I’m right in the place that I am supposed to be…
A pretty sweet evening/night of music on both side of the river in Nashville on a Tuesday in October. Saw a song swap featuring two of my musical heroes from my college days – Bill Lloyd and Webb Wilder along with the always amazing Tim Carroll.
Crossed the river for some Vegetarian Shepherd’s Pie and a Pint of fine beer to check out some amazing music including: Drew Kohl, Julie Christensen and her band, and the Dan Montgomery Band.
Let’s do this shuffle thing – okay?
“Threads of Measure” by Brown Bird from Fits of Reason
The first of three great songs by this amazing band. The death of David Lamb was a great loss to the world.
“Turtles All the Way Down” by Sturgill Simpson from 2014-05-13 – Grimey’s Records – Nashville/Metamodern Sounds in Country Music
One of my favorite songs from the latest Sturgill Simpson album – done live at a Nashville record establishment.
“And Roses And Roses” by Victoria Williams from Sings Some Ol’ Songs
Victoria Williams doing a song made famous by Andy Williams.
“Something in Blue” by David Olney from When the Deal Goes Down
Another incredibly great song from this awesome album – co-produced by E2TG favorite Mark Robinson.
“Distant” by Heather Powell from Believe it to Life
I am so impressed by the incredible variety and volume of music being produced under the True Groove Record label. Kudos to Tomas Doncker and Marla Mase – along with everyone else involved. If you haven’t, check out all of the True Groove artists out… there isn’t a bad place to start so start right here. The video I picked for this song features the amazing Heather Powell performing with the True Groove All-Stars.
“Road to Joy” by The Grimm Generation from The Big Fame
One of my favorite songs from one of my favorite albums by some of my favorite people. It’s a Grimm season – so get Grimm. The Road to Joy is paved with… something. Heck, I don’t know. But this song is great!
“Comes With Kisses” by Deena from Rock River
This wraps up the Rock River album, and it ends with this cool song. I will be publishing my review of this album soon – so stayed tuned to Ear to the Ground.
“Seven Hells” by Brown Bird from Fits of Reason
#2 of the day from Brown Bird from Portland, Maine.
“Goldfinger” by Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings from The Wolf of Wall Street Motion Picture
Let’s see… James Bond theme cover? check. From a Leonard DiCaprio movie? check. By Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings? check. Yep – this is cool!
“Abednego” by Brown Bird from Fits of Reason
And then there were three. A new axiom: you can never have too many Brown Bird songs in a shuffle.
“If You Ain’t Glad I’m Leaving” by Justin Townes Earle from NoiseTrade Eastside Manor Session/!function(d,s,id){var js,fjs=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];if(!d.getElementById(id)){js=d.createElement(s);js.id=id;js.src=”//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js”;fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js,fjs);}}(document,”script”,”twitter-wjs”);The Good Life
And, we close out the day with a live recording of Justin Townes Earle recording on the east side of his hometown which happens to be the city where I live. This song goes back to his 2008 album.
We have a bunch of cool songs by some silly boys and one not so silly, but very talented woman. Let’s go!
“Falling” by Pork Chop Willie from Love is the Devil
Another great track from the album which came out earlier this year. You need to hear this.
“Silly Boys” by Holy Modal Rounders from Last Round
How about this? New York psychedelic folk duo – who have collaborated with Sam Shepard among others. This song is from their 1978 album.
“Head” by The Orwells from Other Voices EP
Think Rock and Roll is dead? Have you not heard The Orwells?
“Medicine Springs” (Stanley Brother Cover) by Sturgill Simpson from 2014-05-13 – Grimey’s Records – Nashville, TN
Think Country music sucks? Have you not heard Sturgill Simpson?
“Who Woulda Thunk It?” (Greg Brown Cover) by Grant Peeples and the Peeples Republik from Punishing the Myth
One of my highlights of AMA week was being introduced to the music of and meeting Grant Peeples. This is the only cover on his incredible album – of which you will be hearing lots more – and it’s a good one. I never complain about a cover song when it is a Greg Brown song being covered.
“А где мне взять такую песню” by Orera from 1970
Ya’ll I seriously love this music – more from this amazing Georgian folk/jazz group who recorded back in the 1970s or so.
“White Gardenias” by Justin Townes Earle from NoiseTrade Eastside Manor Session/Single Mothers
Okay it got cropped out of the picture, but it is the time, I shared the front page of No Depression with Justin Townes Earle. This is a song from his brand new album recorded in a special session for NoiseTrade at Eastside Manor. Trivia: The photo of the cover of his new album was taken at a Nashville park commonly known as Dragon Park. This park was also featured in the album art of one of R.E.M.’s albums.
“Blue Light of the Fire” by Heather Powell from Believe it to Life
Heather Powell has an amazing voice, and it is always good to have her in the shuffle.
“Don’t Think About Her When You’re Trying to Drive” by Little Village from Little Village
Good advice from the Little Village
“Following the Plan” by bellwire from Following the Plan
This seems to be the latest song from New Hampshire based bellwire. It’s a cool powerpop song. If you aren’t hip to these guys – definitely check them out.
Pre-Shuffle and Shuffle combined for your enjoyment….
“You Know, I Know, You Know” by Bleu <!– google_ad_client = "ca-pub-5465441380757075"; /* E2TG #2 */ google_ad_slot = "6306625404"; google_ad_width = 728; google_ad_height = 90; //
–> (From Redhead)
“True North” by Sam Morrow (Title track of his recent EP)
“Church Kids” (Poem by Jordan Gaines) by Christian Robins (from KidGrownUp)
“Ghost of Virginia” by Justin Townes Earle (American Songwriter Sessions version)
“Bread or Wine” by Heath McNease (from Thrift Store Jesus)
“Oh Well, My Love, Farewell” by Brad Jones (Nashville based singer-songwriter)
“Second Moon” by Valued Customer (the first release from their new album Kalpa)
“My Alien Father” by The Gabriel Construct (just featured by Huffington Post! After making a comparison, I get to hear Valued Customer and The Gabriel Construct back-to-back. Sublime!)
“Jennifer” and “W-O-E” by Little Comets (British Alt-Pop band)
“This Song Will Make You Love Me” by The Great American Novel (an early treat from the forthcoming record. This song will make you love The Great American Novel.)
“Funny Heartbeat” by Kisses (LA band. Kind of digging it)
“You’ve Got Your Head on Backwards” by The Sonics (from 1966 – one of the predecessors of punk)
Ready Set Go… well, I’m going to be out and about the rest of this week. I MAY sneak in an entry or two. In the mean time, I will leave you with another fine, fine mix of music…
PRE-SHUFFLE:
1. “Chili” by Dog Without Warning (Did I mention the latest Dog Without Warning record is bad ass? Well, it is. My shuffle mode has been digging this song and so have I.) 2.”Oh Darlin'” by Mystery Twins (Happy to present another song from this Nashville-based musical side project. – two members of The Clutters) 3. “Infatuation” by Dog Without Warning (Did I mention that the latest Dog Without Warning record is really, really bad ass? Well, it really really is! This song is one of my favorites from the ‘Bark’ EP. Oh who am I kidding, all of the songs on ‘Bark’ are my favorites.) 4. “The Escape” by SkyBurnsRed (more music from this hot UK band). 5. “Sorry, But I’m Yours” by Ben Shive (Another awesome track from this unique Nashville Singer/Songwriter) 6. & 7. “Is There Anybody Out There?” and “Nothing Stays the Same” by Human Face (Really digging the Brit-Pop feel of this band) 8. “What’s So Funny About Peace, Love and Understanding” by Steve Earle (covering Elvis Costello (doing a Nick Lowe tune)) (A live and loud version of the Nick Lowe classic. Trivia, Earle’s son Justin Townes is in the band for this song) 9. “Bring Me Backwards” by Ellis Paul (Man oh Man, I dig this song. Came to me via the latest Feel Bad for You mixtape)
and then we transition into the Shuffle with one of the strongest cuts on the excellent new EP by Tipi Valley
SHUFFLE AFTER THE JUMP!
“You Know” by Tipi Valley from Rock ‘n Roll Lives On (2013)
This song was Tipi Valley’s contribution to CXCW13.Tipi Valley is from Swansea, UK. I’ll have to remember to ask him if Swansea is as beautiful as it sounds….
“Piling It On” by Decades from Deep Deep Pink Sessions (2013)
I’m really, really, really digging this Las Vegas band which I was introduced to via Noisetrade. This song comes from the band’s 2010 album, Old Weird America.
“Easy Chair” by Great Divide from Great Divide (2013)
A great way to close out today’s Shuffle. There is a lovely, comfortable feel to this band, and so far I think I like every single song I’ve heard.
I’m not at work today, so my morning shuffle was not part of my morning walk, but instead, I listened to the shuffle while waiting with my daughter for the bus to take her to ESY and then while feeding the dogs. Enjoying what will be the only bearable part of the day. Temperatures here in Nashville are predicted to hit 101 today, and they will only rise from there over the next few days.
My wife is volunteering for an appearance by Michelle Obama at the Opryland Hotel – and it looks like mood should be jubilant over there.
To the shuffle:
First up we have theB-side to a 7″ from The Flint Hill Specials which is a side project of Americana band National Grain. The song we have today is Unknown Folk Singer and took me to the Last Motel Room (the A-Side of the 7″) where the faces of the forgotten and never known pass unseen along the concrete sidewalks and on the metal and concrete staircase.
You can grab the Downloads (plus a couple of covers) over the the Flint Hill Specials site. You can catch up with National Grain on their site.
(by the way, you may have noticed over the past couple of days, I’ve been posting the Amazon ad rather than just the album cover image. That’s because the embed code for the image link has been truncated. I like the way just the album cover looks, and I hope to return to that format as soon as Amazon fixes the code)
Here’s The Flint Hill Specials from this years SXSW.
Next up we have another track from The Bluefields’ debut album, Pure. This time around Warner, Dan and Joe make a departure in Dub Step territory… just kidding… Seriously thought, ya’ll Don’t Let Me Fall is pure Rock ‘n’ Roll in a slow burner that speaks to the yearning that all good Rock ‘n’ Roll has at it’s core.
Here are The Bluefields from what I believe was their first show back in September 2011 doing a cover of Led Zeppelin’s When the Levee Breaks
From there, we move on to a track from Lo-Fi, Indie Pop band TV Girl from their recent release, The Wild, The Innocent and the TV Shuffle, called Loneliness Can Be Demanding. Give a listen below.
Next up we have Death Cab for Cutie with a track from their last album (2011’s Codes and Keys) – The song is called Monday Morning – which is perfect for a Thursday morning.
And finally, we hit up another tune from Justin Townes Earle’s Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now. Justin takes us Down on the Lower East Side.
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Theme From My Three Sons Theme From My Three Sons – Soundtrack & Theme Orchestra
A rare cooler day, but alas temperatures will be rising soon enough. We got a stunning potpourri of songs this a.m. so sit back and take it all in….
First up is a song from an unfortunately defunct Indie Pop band from here in Nashville. Popular Genius played extremely listenable, intelligent music. Apologize comes from the band’s 2003 album, How to Be Popular.
A while back we presented a song from the Brooklyn Band EndAnd (who should in no way be mistaken for our friends (also from Brooklyn) The End Men. EndAnd are a hard rocking Alternative band. They have an album called Adventures of Fi in Space which came out this past December. The song today is called Labor Force.
We’ve been hitting up Justin Townes Earle’s album Nothing’s Gonna Change the Way You Feel About Me Now pretty hard. It’s another excellent record by the Americana giant. Justin Townes Earle will be part of the Mumford and Sons cavalcade (my term) which will hit a few cities this summer (including a stop on the Tennessee/Virginia border). The song today is called Won’t Be the Last Time.
E2TG: MUSIC/WORDS 